Thursday, December 18, 2014

The
dramatic events in Sydney this week resulting in the tragic deaths of Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson by a radicalised individual
represents not only a dark day in Australia’s history but is a sobering
reminder that all organisations must be prepared for the unexpected. Over 17
hours the eyes of the world focussed onto the Lindt Café in the otherwise busy Martin Place and
the extensive response by the New South Wales Police Force’s Tactical Operations
Unit.

With
the national terror alert recently elevated to ‘high’ by the Federal Government
in September 2014, the realisation that Australia is not immune from the
effects of violent extremists was brought to the forefront of our collective
mind.

This
week’s horrific events should clearly cement the fact that the threat of a major act of violence must
remain high on the corporate threat agenda.

In
the coming weeks and months there will be debates, questions, reviews and
constant differing opinion about this event. What is clear is this critical
incident again highlights the need for organisations to have up-to-date, rehearsed
and seamlessly integrated Incident and Crisis Management Plans.

What are the
learnings for business?

Firstly,
a critical event can affect any organisation at any time. Response must be immediate to take control.
Moreover the effects of “someone else’s”
crisis could rapidly become your crisis; drawing you into a situation for which
you may not be prepared. A routine morning coffee quickly escalated to involve
multiple organisations whose employees were tragic victims. In this case Lindt Chocolate Australia and Eight Selborne Chambers.

Secondly,
if your organisation has identified the threat of an act of violence or armed
intrusion as a risk to its operations then the Lindt Café siege is confirmation
of that risk’s validity. Not all events can be prevented, however your
organisation can control its response through the application of crisis
management best-practice process and response.

Every
Chairman and CEO should confirm that their organisation is prepared to deal
with the worst case scenario. Does the organisation have a validated Crisis
Management Plan that manages people issues immediately while strategically positioning
the business to respond and recover from adversity? If the answer is ‘No’
then now is the time to reinvest in protecting your business and brand from company
destroying events.

The age of social
media

The
Lindt Café siege again has highlighted the immediate power of social media. It
confirms the necessity of incorporating this communication platform into your
organisation’s response. Social media must be a front-line integrated part of the
arrowhead that is your organisation’s crisis response.

The
high profile effects of social media were visibly seen: The hostages were
directed by the perpetrator to use it to communicate during the crisis, the
solidarity characteristics of the crisis spawned the viral and global trending
of the #Illridewithyou hashtag and the NSW government used it to
communicate with affected publics.

An
equally valuable learning for business was also demonstrated through Lindt Australia’s
social media response. Within the early stages of the siege unfolding, Lindt delivered
through social media a caring and concerned message strategy that was timely,
appropriate and consistent. They demonstrated their compassion through an
explicit stating of what their corporate priority was: People. Within two hours of posting their first message on their
two Facebook sites (Lindt Australia
and Lindt Chocolate Café Australia)
there was a combined 35,000 likes, 2,000 shares and 2,000 comments. This
necessarily excludes those who simply viewed the message only. As the situation
developed, more messages appeared and their priority remained steadfast.
Business leaders would be well served to familiarise themselves with Lindt’s
social media response by viewing their Facebook page.

The
Lindt communications response is a valuable contemporary learning that
demonstrates the positive reach of social media. Conversely a poor message
strategy could indeed create a secondary crisis for an organisation. The court
of public opinion can be an unforgiving arena; if you do not get your message
out fast and correctly someone else will fill the void with an alternative,
inaccurate and potentially damaging message.

About Me

Ross Campbell is Principal and CEO of RCA Crisis Management, a crisis management consulting firm specialising in response strategies and pre-crisis training for many global companies and government. With his team of specialist consultants, he trains hundreds of CEOs and executives at head offices and sites. He is author of CRISIS CONTROL - PREVENTING AND MANAGING CORPORATE CRISES (published by Penguin).